Really, how does she do it? Here's Kirsten Gillibrand, fresh off stomping Harold Ford, currently eating fake CPA Joe DioGuardi for breakfast in the New York Senate race, and she still has time to do her job, raise boatloads of cash, campaign across the state, and impress the jaded hedonists at Vogue.

As the crowd files out of the barn, I express admiration to one of the senator’s aides for his boss’s ability to charm a roomful of Republicans, and he says, “She can do the same thing on derivatives, comfortably rapping about financial markets. She walks into these huge churches in Brooklyn and Queens and starts talking about the asthma rates and the environmental-justice movement. It’s just her comfort level with so many subjects.” This reminds me of something Tina Brown, the editor in chief of The Daily Beast, told me: “People underestimate how smart Senator Gillibrand is. I hosted a dinner for her to meet a number of CEOs and media figures, and in conversation she was brilliant in her analysis of the economic meltdown. And she is an amazing fund-raiser . . . an unstoppable machine when she works the room.”

I'm not a big fan of David Paterson, walking embodiment that he is of why New Yorkers hold our state government in contempt. But if he's treated more kindly by history than he perhaps deserves, it will be because his choice to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate seat was nothing short of inspired.

Gillibrand in front of the U.S. Capitol. Michael Kors coat and dress. Miriam Haskell earrings.
Sittings Editor: Alexandra Kotur.
Photographed by Norman Jean Roy, Image © by Vogue,

Harold Ford jr.'s run for Senate is dead...

"A penny for the old guy"

Hillary Clinton, the very accomplished, brilliant wife of a very popular President, moved to New York to run for the Senate. She was widely criticized initially as a "carpetbagger," but in the end won our confidence and won her Senate seat. Hillary is an exceptional person and NY State appreciates exceptional people even if they come from elsewhere. Even though it didn't pass Congress (due to the exact same Democratic divisions and Republican obstructionism we are seeing now), I think many appreciated her efforts and recognized her Healthcare plan as something America sure could have used.

Harold Ford, jr., the failed Senate candidate from Tennessee and Wall Street fat cat, somehow convinced himself he was as exceptional a person and Hillary Clinton and thought he could follow in her footsteps. Moving from Tennessee he thought he could waltz into the Senate, banking on dissatisfaction with so-far only appointed Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.  read more »

Very cool; I can't find a link on their site - sent by email, and the URL is personalized - but here's something you should go to if you'd like to lobby against changes in the Clean Air Act. Here's a message from the event host:

Message from your host, Jim R.: Coal industry lobbyists are trying to slip a provision into Obama's clean energy plan that would repeal a key part of the Clean Air Act. This would bring about a whole new generation of dirty coal power and make New York's pollution problems even worse. But not if Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has anyt...(more)hing to say about it. She's one of the very first senators to speak out publicly against rolling back the Clean Air Act. We're gathering to show Senator Gillibrand that we applaud her leadership, and that we stand with her -- for a clean energy future, and against a weakened Clean Air Act and 100 new coal plants.

To learn more, go here. The event takes place on Thursday - as of this writing, that's tomorrow.

Manhattan - 49th St. and 3rd Ave, 780 3rd Ave. (Map)
New York, NY 10017
Thursday, July 23th, 12:00 PM  read more »

Senator Gillibrand's campaign to win over the left-leaning Democratic primary electorate continues unabated. See her endorsement by Howard Dean, datelined yesterday and apparently released late in the PM.

Now-Senator Gillibrand could have been deeply politically damaged by the circumstances of her appointment; the collapse in Paterson's poll numbers dates to his mishandling of the appointment process to fill Clinton's seat. But she hasn't been, and unless Carolyn Maloney can make a case for why she'd do a better job - and why upstate's only real power player needs to be replaced by another Manhattanite - a year out, Kirsten's looking pretty good.

Some quotes, via press release, after the break.  read more »

Senator Gillibrand is on Daily Kos with a diary about her support of Dan Choi, the West Point graduate and Arabic translator who recently got drummed out of the service for, gasp, being gay.

I'm not even going to quote, but read the whole thing here: Stand With Lt. Dan Choi, It's Time To Repeal DADT.

Oh, and Senator Gillibrand, you just earned my vote.